People instinctively resisted being controlled. However pure the original intention, an imposed "for your own good" was not necessarily kindness to the person receiving it. It could be a shackle instead.
Like many parents who said "it's all for you" every day, while in reality interfering at every turn with their children's choices, emotions, and even the course of their lives.
Children had no power to resist when young, but once their wings grew strong enough, they would instinctively break free. This was not ingratitude, but the most natural defense of their sovereignty over themselves.
Any living person instinctively rejected having their will altered by someone else. Neither goodwill nor authority could change that fact.
Professor X slowly shook his head. "You don't understand... just how terrifying the power inside Jean is, much less what irreversible consequences it could bring once it goes out of control."
"Let's go, Logan, Ororo..."
His gaze swept over everyone. He named only Wolverine and Storm before finally resting his eyes on Chen Xiao and pausing briefly.
"And Vitas. We'll go find her together. I know where she is."
With that, he operated his wheelchair and rolled straight toward the elevator.
Storm followed first. Wolverine hesitated briefly, then followed as well.
Chen Xiao had just lifted his foot when a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:
"Mission conditions triggered. Main mission issued: defeat the Mutant Juggernaut." "Mission reward: 2 Origin points."
As the elevator slowly rose, Chen Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had already expected the system to issue missions whenever key plot points appeared. After all, the incident with Scott had been proof enough.
What truly made his heart sink was that this mission's objective was not "save Professor X," but "defeat Juggernaut."
Did that mean the system had determined that the Professor would die even if I was there?
Or did it simply not care about the outcome, counting it as a success as long as I disturbed a crucial pivot in the worldline?
He had always thought the core logic behind the system's missions was "saving lives and changing fate," earning Origin by reversing moments of death.
Now it seemed his thinking had been too narrow.
Confusion stirred in Chen Xiao's heart.
Forget it. If I can't figure it out now, I'll leave it for later. One day I'll see it clearly.
That's fine, too. Otherwise, if every mission was about "saving people" and "rescuing" someone, I might really start acting like a Holy Mother.
But... this time, Professor X probably really won't escape, even with me there.
* Sigh!*
In an underground base in a small city outside New York.
Magneto had just finalized a new round of destructive plans with his subordinates when Nightcrawler abruptly raised her head, her face filled with shock. "Boss, I just picked up an incredibly powerful magnetic field fluctuation!"
Magneto turned his head, his voice low. "How powerful?"
Nightcrawler's breath caught slightly, her voice tightening. "Absurdly powerful... she's the strongest Mutant I've ever sensed. Even you can't match her."
At Nightcrawler's words, Magneto's gaze abruptly sharpened, and a small, thin figure surfaced from the depths of his memory.
Twenty years ago, before he and Charles had completely fallen out, they had visited a remote town together.
There, the power of a young Mutant girl had shaken him. Her telekinesis had surged like towering waves, carrying a violent pressure that seemed capable of destroying almost anything, making his back tense and his breathing catch.
Unfortunately, that girl had ultimately been sent to the Mutant academy, and Charles had personally sealed the potential within her. From then on, all her edge had faded, and she had become an utterly ordinary Mutant.
That suffocating pressure had never appeared again.
As the thought flashed through his mind, Magneto understood. The corners of his mouth slowly rose, his voice low and certain. "I told you long ago that you couldn't suppress her."
Before his words had faded, he rose to his feet, his smile composed. "Let's go bring our companion back."
Meanwhile, Professor X was traveling by car with Wolverine, Storm, and Chen Xiao, heading straight for the town where Jean's home stood.
Inside the minivan heading toward Andry Town, Storm held the steering wheel steadily. Wolverine rested in the front passenger seat with his eyes closed, while Chen Xiao and the Professor sat side by side in the back.
The town was not far from the academy, roughly a two-hour drive.
Of course, what had truly delayed their journey was Jean's earlier uncontrolled outburst. It had left the underground base in shambles, and the jet could not take off for the time being, leaving them no choice but to travel by road.
As the scenery raced backward outside the window, Chen Xiao half-closed his eyes, silently weighing the combat strength of the different parties: Magneto, and Jean, who had already awakened.
He knew perfectly well that this trip would very likely bring them face-to-face with Magneto and his followers.
But with his current abilities, his speed, strength, and reflexes had all risen several levels. Even against Magneto head-on, he had no need to be overly wary. After all, he was not Wolverine, and would not be pinned helplessly by Magneto's magnetic field.
As long as he did not get overconfident, Magneto could not get close to him at all. If they really clashed at point-blank range, one heavy punch would be enough to drop him on the spot.
What truly weighed on him was the possibility that Professor X would die at Jean's hands.
In the movie's post-credits scene, the Professor had transferred his consciousness into his vegetative twin brother at the instant Jean erased him, allowing him to be reborn.
But this was the real world, not a screenplay on a screen.
Chen Xiao did not dare gamble on whether the Professor could complete that transfer of consciousness.
So if an opportunity arose, he intended to intervene. Without the Professor presiding over the academy, it would probably struggle to provide him with a safe place to grow.
But having only just entered his X-Gene's second awakening, whether he could withstand Jean as she was now remained unknown.
Indeed, before they had even fought, he was already rehearsing what would happen if he went all out.
Because the Jean of this moment was no longer the weak girl who had first awakened by the lake.
As her second personality fully emerged, the Phoenix Force was quietly reviving. Even without going berserk, her ordinary telekinesis alone was already terrifying enough to make one's heart tremble.
Once she completely lost control... Chen Xiao would turn and flee without a moment's hesitation.
Superman at his peak could naturally disregard this degree of pressure. Unfortunately, Chen Xiao had only awakened a little over half a month ago, and his foundations were still shallow.
He could only sigh softly to himself.
After spending these days with this elderly man, who had devoted his life to coexistence between humans and Mutants and poured half a lifetime's care into his students, Chen Xiao genuinely respected him.
He did not necessarily agree with all the Professor's ideals, but he sincerely admired his sense of responsibility and wholehearted sincerity.
Yet the more he felt that way, the harder it became to keep his trump cards hidden.
Once caught in the game, how could everything go as one wished?
Just then, the Professor turned his head slightly, his warm gaze settling on Chen Xiao's face. "Vitas, I can sense that you have something you want to tell me?"
"Yes."
Chen Xiao paused briefly, then nodded. "Professor, Jean's loss of control and rampage after leaving the academy probably have something to do with your intervention all those years ago."
In the driver's seat up front, Storm's eyes lifted slightly, a trace of puzzlement appearing in them.
The Professor fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Your guess is correct."
"When I first met Jean as a child, I sensed that power capable of destroying everything within her. Primal, violent, and filled with the most instinctive desires."
"At the time, she had absolutely no control over it."
"If allowed to grow unchecked, it would sooner or later devour her consciousness and reduce her to a puppet of pure destruction."
"So I intervened, building a barrier around her mind to shut out that power's influence and seal it away."
"I never expected that power to give rise to a second personality within her, one filled with greed and hostility, and extremely dangerous."
Those words stunned Storm, while Wolverine's expression remained unchanged. Clearly, he already knew the truth.
Though Chen Xiao also knew beforehand, he cooperatively showed a little astonishment, his tone grave. "Professor, although the personality inside Jean has awakened, she's still relatively stable for now. There's really no need for you to put yourself in danger."
"Others might be fine, but once you appear, you're very likely to aggravate her emotions. When that happens..."
Before he could finish, the Professor calmly interrupted him. "I must go."
"Must go." Chen Xiao paused.
Looking at the skyscrapers flashing past outside the window, the Professor spoke gently but firmly. "Mutants aren't the only ones in this world who possess extraordinary power. There are also beings hidden in the shadows whose strength far exceeds ordinary imagination."
The Ancient One? Or someone else?
The thought flashed through Chen Xiao's mind, but he revealed nothing, showing only a suitably puzzled expression.
The Professor continued, "Years ago, I reached an agreement with these hidden powerhouses: Mutant affairs would be handled by Mutants themselves."
"We call it the 'Peak Agreement.'"
"Unless the situation spirals out of control, or Mutants provoke them first, they are not allowed to intervene."
"Likewise, I am restricted to handling affairs related to Mutants, and may not overstep those boundaries."
Storm looked utterly astonished. "The Peak Agreement? Professor, you've never mentioned it to us... are those people really that powerful?"
Wolverine also frowned slightly, clearly hearing of this for the first time.
They knew there were other superpowered individuals in the world, but most were scattered here and there, with limited areas of activity. They had never expected that there truly existed a group beyond the bounds of common sense, so powerful that even Professor X had to deal with them cautiously.
One should not mistake the Professor for someone utterly frail simply because he spent his days in a wheelchair, could not even lift a matchstick, and was completely helpless against Jean.
That notion could not have been more wrong.
Just how powerful was Professor X? So powerful that every time Magneto met him, he had to wear that metal helmet specifically designed to block psychic intrusion.
So powerful that, once he activated Cerebro, he could instantly annihilate the consciousness of every Mutant on Earth, or paralyze the mental network of all humanity.
In terms of deterrence, Magneto feared him, while those hidden powerhouses regarded him as an even greater threat.
Conversely, the Professor was wary of them as well, fearing that if they intervened and disrupted matters, the already difficult circumstances of Mutants would only grow worse.
For a moment, thoughts surged through Chen Xiao's mind.
No wonder the authorities turned a blind eye whenever Magneto stirred up trouble, with the X-Men always stepping in to clean up the mess in the end.
That also explained why the X-Men were nowhere to be seen when Hulk and Abomination fought to the death on the streets of New York, or during the major crises in which Iron Man and Spider-Man appeared one after another.
The two sides had long shared an understanding: clear boundaries, each handling their own affairs, neither overstepping.
So even later, when an alien army attacked New York and the Avengers fought a battle that shook the earth and devastated the city, not a single Mutant had intervened.
Yet this peace of "staying out of each other's business" had planted the seeds of the Mutants' extermination.
Over the years, a small number of Mutants must have caused trouble under the watch of those top powerhouses.
Only because the agreement was already in place had they chosen to stand by and do nothing.